Generous and devoted to family, Kendall Edward Kinyon 85 left us with hearts full of gratitude and sorrow when he passed on December 11, 2025, in Petaluma, California.
Born to Guy Edward Kinyon and Eleanor Marie Kinyon on Jue 26, 1940 in Castleford, Idaho, Ken grew up farming, cattle ranching and sheep herding to the west of Twin Falls area in the sagebrush south of the Snake River. He then pursued a career as an accountant and lawyer before raising a family on his own farm in Orangevale, California.
Raised partially by his grandmother Grace after his mother passed when he was 8, he was always ready to take in family when they suffered their own hardship and loss; a generosity that never ceased wherever he called home.
As a man of good humor and wry wit, he would have chuckled at this quote in his obituary with the certainty of a career “tax man”:
“…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Benjamin Franklin
He attended Boise Jr. College and University of Montana where he received a B.A. in Business Administration and a CPA certificate which led to ten years of work as an agent of the Internal Revenue Service in Northern California.
He met and married MaryAnn Rita Kinyon (nee Gilson) in Sacramento, California in 1966. While raising two boys with MaryAnn, providing a home to his brother-in-law, and working as a tax agent, he earned his law degree from the University of the Pacific (McGeorge School of Law, where he later taught) before joining the California State Bar in 1972.
Soon after that, he was hired by the California Franchise Tax Board, where his career as a managing attorney specializing in tax law eventually spanned three decades until retiring as Assistant Chief Counsel. The family moved to Orangevale to live closer to his new office. Later that year, the boys welcomed a baby sister, who arrived home on Christmas Day.
Through the farm and many camping trips, the three kids were instilled with his love for the outdoors and a were shaped by the nurturing responsibilities of cows, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, geese, ducks and the family cat and dog.
Kendall and MaryAnn enjoyed 40 years of marriage, and after ushering three kids off to their own careers and families they traveled during their retirement, until her death in 2006.
In Sacramento, he met and engaged Sue Schneckloth, also a child of Idaho and a retiree of The Franchise Tax Board. They bought a house along the Moyie River north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho near the Canada border. They kept busy traveling, watercolor painting and Model T excursions, living there in the summer while wintering in Orangevale until Sue passed away in 2021.
Kendall is survived by his son Joseph Kinyon and his wife Jennifer Stock, daughter in law Kristin Kovack, and his beloved grandchildren Christopher Kinyon, Ashley Kinyon, Nathan Kovack and Owen Kinyon–as well as many nieces and nephews who loved him as Uncle Ken. He is preceded in death by both parents Guy Kinyon, Eleanor Kinyon, and Jean Kinyon, wife MaryAnn Kinyon, fiancé Sue Schneckloth, son David Kinyon, daughter Carol Kinyon, and sisters Wanda Vowles and Lisa Knutz. He is also preceded in death by his brother and sisters in law Carl Gilson, Barney Gilson, Michael Gilson, Thomas Gilson, Christine Gilson, and David Gilson, whom he counted as close family.
A graveside service will be held at 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Friday April 10, 2026, at Calvary Cemetery in Citrus Heights, California.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Dementia Society of America and/or the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in honor of the loss and struggle he experienced from these diseases.